Bribes in church

When Fuller woke up this morning he immediately asked to go to church. It is one of his staple requests ("Go church?" "Go zee-um?" "See Charlie?" "See Luke?") and always makes me smile.

This morning he was so eager he offered to put on his shoes before changing or eating breakfast.

It warms my heart that Fuller likes to go to church, but I have to admit I wasn't all that thrilled. Since we have only one service right now (next week we go back to two) and there is no Little Lambs, Fuller would have to sit through the entire service. And Fuller's behavior in church for the last few weeks has been less than stellar... so much so it drove me to tears one Sunday.

Today we tried a different tactic- bribery. If Fuller would sit still, stay quiet, participate in singing, then he would get a small piece of candy. We doled out an entire roll of smarties throughout the service, in exchange for making it to certain milestones. And amazingly, it worked.

He was a bit rambunctious during singing (wanting to be held, so trying to climb Damon) and he refused to entertain himself during the sermon, making it difficult for either of us to pay attention*. But besides these small infractions (he did get one spanking), for a three year old who is constantly on the move and noisy, he was a really good kid. Instead of tears this week, I was proud and beaming.

Next week we get to go back to our old routine- 8:30 service and Little Lambs after the offering. I look forward to a new year of watching Fuller grow even more in the church.

*I do however remember the three points: our identity is in Christ, our identity is in the church, and our identity is our service. Just don't ask me to expound on them. I guess I could wait until the sermon comes out online.